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Softbank Founder Key to Sprint Deal Success

The history of Asian telecom investment in the U.S. has been far from successful. But Softbank Corp.’s $20 billion purchase of Sprint Nextel Corp. may be the exception, thanks to the Japanese company’s entrepreneurial founder, who is no stranger to headline-grabbing acquisitions.

Softbank Chief Executive Masayoshi Son has both experience with deals and knowledge of the U.S. business culture, analysts say. Mr. Son turned a computer software start-up he founded in 1981 into an Internet and telecom conglomerate, and has decades of experience dealing with entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley and China.